Hospital monitoring and control system and method

ABSTRACT

A hospital monitoring system for monitoring hospital personnel, a plurality of patient locations for patients, and associated devices is configured to control the associated devices based on the presence of hospital personnel or alarms.

REFERENCE TO PRIORITY APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional ApplicationSer. No. 60/202,283, entitled “Patient Point of Care Computer System”,filed May 5, 2000; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/202,284, entitled“Remote Control for a Hospital Bed”, filed May 5, 2000; and U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/229,136, entitled “Patient Point of CareComputer System”, filed Aug. 30, 2000.

CROSS REFERENCE TO CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS

[0002] The disclosures of co-pending U.S. Nonprovisional applicationSer. No. ______, entitled “Patient Point of Care Computer System”, filedMay 4, 2001, and U.S. Nonprovisional application Ser. No. ______,entitled “Hospital Monitoring And Control System And Method” filed May4, 2001 are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The present invention relates to a hospital monitoring system,and more particularly, to hospital monitoring system for monitoringhospital personnel, a plurality of patient locations for patients, andassociated devices.

[0004] Hospital staff, including doctors, nurses, physician assistants,orderlies, etc., provide patient care while the patient is undergoingtreatment and/or therapy during a hospital visit. A number of systemshave been developed to facilitate providing patient care, such aspersonnel locating systems, nurse call systems, bed status informationsystems, and patient monitoring devices. Details of such systems aredisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,067,019 (Bed Exit Detection Apparatus);U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,223 (Patient/Nurse Call System); U.S. Pat. No.5,808,552 (Patient Detection System for a Patient-Support Device); U.S.Pat. No. 5,699,038 (Bed Status Information System for Hospital Beds);U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,412 (Patient/Nurse Call System); and U.S. Pat. No.5,537,095 (Incontinence Detection Device), the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference. Additionally, co-pending U.S.Nonprovisional applications Ser. Nos. ______, filed May 4, 2001,entitled “Patient Point of Care Computer System”, and ______, filed May4, 2001, entitled “Remote Control For a Hospital Bed”, the disclosuresof which are incorporated herein by reference, also disclose systemsthat have been developed to facilitate providing patient care.

[0005] The systems disclosed above facilitate various patient alarms,such as a patient exiting a bed, an incontinence event, or an emergencycall for a caregiver. Typically, a caregiver will enter the patient'sroom when responding to an alarm. However, the caregiver often mustmanually silence the alarm, adjust the room lighting, or shut off atelevision or radio prior to attending to the patient. This manualpreparation of the working environment may distract the caregiver andfurther increases response time to critical alarms. The disclosure isdirected toward the automatic silencing of such alarms and/or preparingthe working environment when a responsive caregiver enters the patient'sroom. Further, the disclosure is directed toward preparing the workingenvironment when an alarm is received. Further still, the disclosure isdirected toward preparing the working environment when an alarm isreceived, subject to environmental and patient control overridesdepending on the nature of the alarm and time of the alarm.

[0006] The system disclosed also provides for automatic lockouts ofpatient and environmental controls when the caregiver enters the room,regardless of the presence of an alarm. As a caregiver makes his or herrounds, the caregiver may need to tend to the patient's needs. Often acaregiver must ensure that patient activated controls are locked outduring this time, as the patient may inadvertently activate a controland interfere with the caregiver's duties. Also disclosed is a systemthat provides for the automatic enablement of patient controls, bedcontrols, and/or environmental controls when a caregiver is in the room.

[0007] One illustrative embodiment prevents the status of bed lockoutsfrom being changed without an authorized caregiver within the room. Whenthe caregiver enters the room, the system receives a caregiveridentification signal from a caregiver badge. After the systemauthenticates the identification signal, the system then permits the bedlockout status to be changed. The bed lockout controls prevent thepatient on bed from actuating certain controls. These lockouts aretypically actuated by pressing a button or a combination of two or morebuttons on the bed to lock out various bed controls, environmentalcontrols, or other functions.

[0008] Another embodiment is designed for use with beds which aremovable from a generally flat bed position to a chair position. In thisembodiment of the present invention, the bed is unable to move to achair position unless an authorized caregiver is located within theroom. Again, the system must receive and authenticate the identificationsignal from caregiver badge before the bed is permitted to move to thechair position.

[0009] In yet another embodiment, the status of patient environmentalcontrols adjacent a bed is automatically altered when the caregiverenters the room. For example, in one embodiment the sound on a TV/radiodevice is muted and specific light sources are activated when thecaregiver enters the room. A system receives the caregiveridentification signal. After the system authenticates the identificationsignal, the system instructs the TV/radio device to mute all sound andthe light source to activate specific lights. In another embodiment, thesystem locks out one or more of the environmental controls within theroom once the control unit authenticates the identification signal fromthe caregiver badge. Therefore, the patient can no longer control theenvironmental functions such as, for example, the radio, television orlighting when an authorized caregiver is in the room.

[0010] According to the invention, a hospital monitoring system formonitoring hospital personnel, a plurality of patient locations forpatients, and associated devices is disclosed. The system comprises aplurality of transmitters carried by hospital personnel, eachtransmitter periodically transmitting a transmitter signal unique tothat transmitter; a plurality of receivers, each receiver correspondingto a patient location, the receivers receiving the transmitter signalsand outputting a receiver signal; and a computer coupled to theassociated devices, the computer configured to receive the receiversignals and determine the presence of hospital personnel in the patientlocations, the computer further configured to alter device states basedon the presence of hospital personnel.

[0011] Also according to the invention, a method of controlling devicesin a patient location is provided. The method comprises the steps ofassociating the patient location to a patient; associating devices tothe patient location; determining the presence of hospital personnel inthe patient location; and altering the state of the devices based thepresence of hospital personnel.

[0012] Also according to the invention, a hospital monitoring system formonitoring hospital personnel, a plurality of patient locations forpatients, and associated devices is provided. The system comprises alocating and tracking system configured to locate and track hospitalpersonnel located in the plurality of patient locations; a computercoupled to the associated devices and the locating and tracking system,the computer configured to determine the presence of hospital personnelin the patient locations from the locating and tracking system, thecomputer further configured to alter device states based on the presenceof hospital personnel. The computer also includes a database, thedatabase comprising a patient database, the patient database associatedeach patient with a patient location; a hospital personnel database, thehospital personnel database associating each hospital personnel with acaregiver or non-caregiver class, the hospital personnel databasefurther associating hospital personnel with a patient; and an alarmdatabase, the alarm database associating a plurality of alarms with thehospital personnel.

[0013] Additional features of the invention will become apparent tothose skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detaileddescription of illustrated embodiments exemplifying the best mode ofcarrying out the invention as presently perceived.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanyingfigures in which:

[0015]FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the components of thehospital monitoring and control system of the present invention;

[0016]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of a hospital room whichillustrates a patient station in a patient room and the physicalarrangement of other components, including an incontinence detectiondevice;

[0017]FIG. 3 depicts a database structure used to associate patientswith hospital personnel, and associate hospital personnel with alarms;

[0018]FIG. 4 depicts the database association for a specific patientrecord, the patient associated with hospital personnel, and the hospitalpersonnel associated with alarms;

[0019]FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an illustrative embodiment of anautomatic alarm silencing process that includes association of patients,hospital personnel and alarms;

[0020]FIG. 6 is a flowchart of another illustrative embodiment of anautomatic alarm silencing process that includes association of patientsand hospital personnel;

[0021]FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an illustrative embodiment of an alarmsilencing process in conjunction with a patient control lockout thatincludes a lockout of patient activated controls;

[0022]FIG. 8 is a flowchart of another illustrative embodiment of anautomatic alarm silencing process in conjunction with a patient controllockout that includes a lockout of patient activated controls upon theoccurrence of the alarm;

[0023]FIG. 9 is a flow chart of another illustrative embodimentdescribing a process that locks out patient bed controls andenvironmental controls based on the alarm priority;

[0024]FIG. 10 is a flow chart of another illustrative embodimentdescribing a process that prepares the patient environment for thecaregiver based on the alarm priority;

[0025]FIG. 11 is a flow chart of another illustrative embodimentdescribing a process that prepares the patient environment for thecaregiver based on the alarm priority, with each environmentalpreparation subject to an override condition;

[0026]FIG. 12 depicts the database association of the alarm database,the database containing Type, Priority, Lockouts and Overrides fields;

[0027]FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating the control circuitry forseveral environmental controls;

[0028]FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating the bed controller andassociated bed controls;

[0029]FIG. 15 is a flow chart of another illustrative embodimentdescribing a process which lockouts and/or alters selected patient andenvironmental controls when a caregiver is present in the room; and

[0030]FIG. 16 is a flow chart of another illustrative embodimentdescribing a process which enables selected patient and environmentalcontrols when a caregiver is present the room.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrates a blockdiagram of the hospital monitoring and control system 10 of the presentinvention, and an illustrative hospital environment in which the systemis utilized.

[0032]FIG. 2 illustrates a patient room 130 which includes a patientstation 22 and the physical arrangement of other components, includingan incontinence detection device 65. The patient station 22 isillustratively a component of a nurse call system 40. Caregiver 110wears a badge 24 which clips to the caregiver's 110 clothing. The badge24 transmits a pulse-coded signal, preferably infrared or RF, which isreceived by receiver 25, which is preferably located at the patientstation 22, and/or an overhead receiver 125 so that the location andtracking systems 20 can determine and continuously update locations ofcaregivers 110 on duty. Overhead light 122 provides room illumination,and reading light 123 provides reading illumination for the patient.Overhead light 122 and reading light 123 are controlled by lightcontrols 132 and 133, respectively.

[0033] Pillow unit 28 connects via a cable 26 to a receptacle 27 which,in turn, is connected to the nurse call system 40. Pillow unit 28 allowsthe patient 100 to manually place a nurse call or alarm via nurse callsystem 40. Pillow unit also allows patient 100 access to bed 90 controlsand environmental controls 50. Bed 90 controls are also accessible bythe caregiver 110 via control panel 140.

[0034] Incontinence detection device 65 is interposed between the bed 90and patient 110. Incontinence detection device 65 is connected to thecomputer 12 via bed 90 electronics and cable 91 via receptacle 27.

[0035] The system 10 illustratively includes a computer 12 configured tomonitor various system alarms, device status, the hospital personnelinformation, and patient information. Computer 12 is coupled to alocation and tracking system 20. Location and tracking system 20monitors and tracks the location of hospital personnel, patients andequipment within the hospital. Computer 12 is also connected to nursecall system 40. Nurse call system 40 is associated with various alarms42. The alarms 42 illustratively include the following: ALARM PRIORITYGENERATED BY Code Blue 1 Human/Input Device Staff Emergency 2Human/Input Device Bathroom 3 Human/Input Device Shower 4 Human/InputDevice Patient Equipment 5 Automatic/Input Device

[0036] Illustratively, the alarms 42 will place a call to a caregiverthrough location and tracking system 20 and nurse call system 40.

[0037] Computer 12 is also connected to hospital bed 90. Hospital bed 90is associated with alarms 92. Alarms 92 include bed malfunction alarmsand/or bed exit alarms, and incontinence detection device 65 alarms.Illustratively, alarms 92 will place a call to a caregiver throughlocation and tracking system 20 and nurse call system 40.

[0038] Bed 90 includes frame and resting surface devices 190 adjust theposition of bed 90 and the position and shape of the resting surface, asillustrated in FIG. 14. In addition, other devices are included in frameand resting surface devices 190, such as resting surface vibration,temperature and firmness controls. Caregiver 110 accesses and changesthe state of frame and resting surface devices 190 via control panel140, shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 14 shows several frame and resting surfacedevices 190, however FIG. 14 should not be considered an exhaustivelist. Examples of frame and resting surface devices 190 include headposition control 275, back position control 280, seat/thigh positioncontrol 285, heating control 290, firming bladder 295, retractingfootboard control 300, turn assist bladder control 305 and vibrationcontrol 310.

[0039] Head position control 275, back position control 280 andseat/thigh position control 285 all alter the shape of the restingsurface of bed 90. Head position control 275 raises or lowers the headposition of the resting surface generally coincident with the head ofthe patient. Back position control 280 raises or lowers the middleportion of the resting surface generally coincident with the back of thepatient. Seat/thigh position control 285 raises or lowers the lowerportion of the resting surface generally coincident with the seat andthighs of a patient.

[0040] Heating control 290 controls the temperature of the restingsurface of bed 90. Similarly, vibration control 310 controls thevibratory action of the resting surface of bed 90. Firming bladdercontrol 295 controls the firmness of the resting surface of bed 90.Retracting footboard control 300 adjusts the length of the foot portionof the resting surface of bed 90. This allows bed 90 to accommodatepatients of various heights comfortably. Turn assist bladder control 305controls rotation of the patient to reduce the likelihood of pulmonarycomplications. An interface pressure sensor and controller for a patientsupport surface such as an air mattress may also be coupled to thecontroller 190.

[0041] Computer 12 is also connected to coupler 60. The computer 12 maybe coupled to monitors 26, treatment devices 72, and therapy devices 82through coupler 60. Illustratively, coupler 60 may be an RS-232compatible cable or other suitable connector, such as a RS-485compatible cable, Ethernet, or other network connection device known tothose of ordinary skill in the art. Computer 12 processes signals fromthe monitors 62, treatment devices 72, and therapy devices 82 on a realtime basis. The monitors 62, treatment devices 72, and therapy devices82 include, but are not limited to, heart rate monitors, temperaturesensors, blood pressure monitors (invasive and noninvasive), EKGmonitors, blood oxygen sensors, capnographs, ventilators, IV pumps,scales, chest drainage monitors, and the like. Monitors 62, treatmentdevices 72 and therapy devices 82 have associated alarms 64, 74 and 84,respectively. Illustratively, alarms 64, 74, and 84 will place a call toa caregiver through location and tracking system 20 and nurse callsystem 40.

[0042] Computer 12 is also connected to environmental devices 50. Alarm52 is associated with environmental devices 50. Environmental devices 50illustratively include temperature control devices, such as athermostat, and humidity control devices, such as a humidifier.Additionally, environmental devices 50 illustratively includeentertainment devices such as a television/radio 120, and lighting suchas overhead light 122 and reading light 123, all of which do not havealarms associated therewith.

[0043] Environmental devices 50 control environmental parameters withinthe patient room. FIG. 9 shows several different environmental devices50; however FIG. 9 should not be considered an exhaustive list. Examplesof environmental devices 50 include TV/radio 120 control 345, roomtemperature control 350 and lighting control 355, which control overheadlight 122 and reading light 123.

[0044] TV/radio 120 control 345 controls the functions of the TV /radio120 in the room. Room temperature control 350 is a thermostat controlfor altering the temperature of the patient's room. Lighting control 355controls overhead light 122 and reading light 123, and their brightnesslevel.

[0045] In one embodiment, the status of the environmental controls isautomatically altered when caregiver 110 enters the room. For example,the sound on TV/radio 120 is muted and overhead light 122 and/or readinglight 123 controlled by lighting control 355 are activated. Whencaregiver 110 enters the room, receiver 25 receives the caregiveridentification signal broadcast by caregiver badge 24. After thecomputer 12 authenticates the identification signal, the computer 12instructs TV/radio 120 control 345 to mute all sound and lighting device355 to illuminate overhead light 122 and reading light 123.

[0046] In another embodiment of the present invention, the computer 12overrides one or more of the environmental controls within the room oncethe computer 12 authenticates the identification signal from the badge24. In other words, the patient can no longer control the environmentalfunctions such as, for example, the radio, television or lighting whenan authorized caregiver 110 is in the room.

[0047] Bed 90 includes lockout controls which prevent the patient 100 onbed 90 from actuating certain controls. These lockouts are typicallyactuated by pressing a button or a combination of two or more buttons onthe bed to lock out various bed controls, environmental controls, orother functions. In one embodiment of the present invention, these bedlockouts cannot be changed without an authorized caregiver 110 withinthe room. In other words, when caregiver 110 enters the room, thereceiver 25 receives the caregiver identification signal from the badge24. After the control unit authenticates the identification signal 24,computer 12 then permits the bed lockout status to be changed.

[0048] Certain beds such as the TotalCare® bed available from Hill-Rom,Inc. are capable of moving from a generally flat bed position to a chairposition. In one embodiment of the present invention, the bed is unableto move to a chair position unless an authorized caregiver 110 islocated within the room. Again, the computer 12 must receive andauthenticate the identification signal from badge 24 before the bed ispermitted to move to the chair position. Thus, a feature is selectivelylocked out in the absence of a caregiver 110.

[0049]FIG. 15 depicts shows a flow chart 1500 of the illustrativeembodiments, and describes a process which lockouts and/or altersselected patient and environmental controls when a caregiver 110 ispresent in the room. In step 1502, the locating and tracking system 20monitors the room for a caregiver 110. If a caregiver enters the room,step 1504 exits the monitoring loop and enables step 1506, which locksout and/or alters selected patient and environmental controls. In step1508, the locating and tracking system 20 monitors the room for thepresence of the caregiver 110 and retains the state of 1506 as long asthe caregiver 110 is in the room. When the caregiver 110 exits the room,the patient lockouts are removed and the environment is restored, alongwith the patient 100 controls to alter the environment.

[0050]FIG. 16 depicts shows a flow chart 1600 of another one of theillustrative embodiments, and describes a process which enables and/oralters selected patient and environmental controls when a caregiver 110enters the room. In step 1602, the locating and tracking system 20monitors the room for a caregiver 110. If a caregiver enters the room,step 1604 exits the monitoring loop and enables step 1606, which enablesand/or alters selected patient and environmental controls. In step 1608,the locating and tracking system 20 monitors the room for the presenceof the caregiver 110 and retains the state of 1606 as long as thecaregiver 110 is in the room. When the caregiver 110 exits the room, thepatient and environmental lockouts are restored.

[0051]FIG. 3 depicts a database structure used to associate patientswith hospital personnel, and associate hospital personnel with alarms.Patient information is stored in patient database 200. As depicted inFIG. 3, there are numerous patients in the database, ranging from recordnumber 1 to k.

[0052] Hospital personnel information is stored in hospital personneldatabase 300. There are numerous hospital personnel in the hospitalpersonnel database 300, ranging from record number 1 to m. Furthermore,hospital personnel information stored in hospital personnel database 300is categorized by personnel position. Illustratively, the hospitalpersonnel database contains a “doctor” class, a “nurse” class, an“orderly” class, and a “non-caregiver” class. Non-caregiver classillustratively includes security staff, administrative staff, orjanitorial staff.

[0053] Alarm database 400 stores alarm information for alarm records 1to n, each record associated with a different alarm. Furthermore, alarminformation stored in alarm database 300 includes alarm type and alarmpriority. Thus, alarm record 1, for example, may be associated with acardiac arrest and allocated priority 1, the highest priority and thusrequiring immediate attention, and alarm record n may be associated withan incontinence event, and be allocated a lower priority.

[0054]FIG. 4 depicts the database association for a specific patientrecord, the patient associated with hospital personnel, and the hospitalpersonnel associated with alarms. Illustratively, patient record 221 isassociated with hospital personnel records 11, 131, and 211. In thepresent example, the patient represented by patient record 221 has beenadmitted for a heart procedure requiring surgery. Hospital personnelrecords 11, 131, and 211 correspond to a surgeon, a cardiologist and anurse, respectively. Alarms records 1-11 in alarm database 400 areassociated with hospital personnel records 11, 131, and 211. In theillustrative example, alarm records 1-3 are associated with hospitalpersonnel record 11, alarm records 3-7 are associated with hospitalpersonnel record 131, and alarm records 8-11 are associated withhospital personnel record 211. Illustratively, alarm record 1corresponds to a cardiac arrest, and has the highest priority, whichrequires the attention of a cardiologist. Alarm record 3 corresponds toa less severe cardiac event, such as an irregular heart rate, and thushas a lesser priority, and requires either the cardiologist or surgeon.

[0055] The flow diagram 500 of FIG. 5 depicts one illustrativeembodiment of the automatic alarm silencing process that includesassociation of patients, hospital personnel and alarms. In step 502, thecomputer 12 receives an alarm from either the location and trackingsystem 20, the nurse call system 40, a treatment device 72, a therapydevice 82, environmental devices 50, or the hospital bed 90. Uponreceiving the alarm signal, computer 12 gets the alarm priority fromalarm database 400, and may also notify the caregiver at their currentlocation. In step 504, the computer monitors the room 130 from which thealarm was received for a caregiver. In the illustrative embodimentdisclosed herein, patient station 22 monitors the room 130 via receiver25. Upon entering the room 130, a caregiver is identified by badge 24,which emits an infrared pulse and is detected by receiver 25. Computer12 receives the caregiver identification and thus identifies theassociated hospital personnel record in hospital personnel database 300.

[0056] In step 506, computer 12 determines whether the caregiver in room130 is associated with the alarm priority stored in alarm database 400.For example, if the alarm priority is 3, indicating a cardiac event oflower priority than a cardiac arrest, and the person entering the roomis identified as a non-caregiver, e.g., a security officer, the alarmwill not be silenced. Similarly, if the caregiver is identified as anurse, the alarm will not be silenced. Conversely, if the caregiver isidentified as a cardiologist or surgeon, which in this example isassociated with the alarm of priority 3, then step 508 determines if thedoctor identified is associated with that patient. If the doctor isassociated with the patient, then the alarm is silenced in step 510. Ifthe doctor is not associated with the patient, the alarm is notsilenced.

[0057] The flow diagram 600 of FIG. 6 depicts another illustrativeembodiment of the automatic alarm silencing process that includesassociating patients with hospital personnel. In step 602, the computer12 receives an alarm from either the location and tracking system 20,the nurse call system 40, a treatment device 72, a therapy device 82,environmental devices 50, or the hospital bed 90. Upon receiving thealarm signal, computer 12 monitors the room 130 from which the alarm wasreceived for a caregiver, as shown in step 604. In the illustrativeembodiment disclosed herein, patient station 22 monitors the room 130via receiver 25. Upon entering the room 130, a caregiver is identifiedby badge 24, which emits an infrared and/or RF pulse and is detected byreceiver 25. Computer 12 receives the caregiver identification and thusidentifies the associated hospital personnel record in hospitalpersonnel database 300. Step 606 determines if the caregiver isassociated with the patient. If the caregiver is associated with thepatient, then the alarm is silenced in step 608. If the caregiver is notassociated with the patient, the alarm is not silenced.

[0058] The flow diagram 700 of FIG. 7 depicts another illustrativeembodiment of the automatic alarm silencing process that includes alockout of patient activated controls. In step 702, the computer 12receives an alarm from either the location and tracking system 20, thenurse call system 40, a treatment device 72, a therapy device 82,environmental devices 50, or the hospital bed 90. Upon receiving thealarm signal, computer 12 monitors the room 130 from which the alarm wasreceived for a caregiver, as shown in step 704. In the illustrativeembodiment disclosed herein, patient station 22 monitors the room 130via receiver 25. Upon entering the room 130, a caregiver is identifiedby badge 24, which emits an infrared pulse and is detected by receiver25. Once the caregiver enters the room, step 706 silences the alarm andlocks out any patient activated controls, such as bed 90 controls ortelevision/radio 120 controls, thus decreasing the likelihood that thepatient 100 may inadvertently interfere with caregiver 110 while thecaregiver 110 administers the required therapy in response to the alarm.

[0059] The flow diagram 800 of FIG. 8 depicts another illustrativeembodiment of the automatic alarm silencing process in conjunction witha patient control lockout that includes a lockout of patient activatedcontrols immediately upon the occurrence of an alarm. Locking outpatient and environmental controls as soon as an alarm is received isdesirable should the patient 100 be suffering from severe condition,such as a cardiac arrest or seizure, so as to prevent a patient'sinvoluntary movement from accidentally activating a bed 90 orenvironmental devices 50.

[0060] In step 802, the computer 12 receives an alarm from either thelocation and tracking system 20, the nurse call system 40, a treatmentdevice 72, a therapy device 82, environmental devices 50, or thehospital bed 90. Upon receiving the alarm signal, computer 12immediately locks out all patient and environmental controls as shown instep 804. Controller 12 then monitors the room 130 from which the alarmwas received for a caregiver, as shown in step 806. Once the caregiverenters the room, step 808 silences the alarm.

[0061] Often an alarm may sound when a caregiver 110 in present in thehospital room 130. In such a situation, it is not desirable toautomatically cancel the alarm, as the caregiver 110 may not immediatelynotice the alarm, or the alarm may be suppressed before it emits anaudible signal. Accordingly, alternative embodiments to FIGS. 5-8include a step that determines whether a caregiver 110 is present in theroom 130 when the alarm sounds; if a caregiver 110 is present, the alarmis not automatically suppressed by the presence of the caregiver 110.Computer 12 is configured to allow the alarm to sound for apredetermined amount of time so that the caregiver 110 can assess whichalarm is sounding. Alternatively, computer 12 is configured to requirethe caregiver 110 to manually shut off the alarm. Conversely, if acaregiver 110 is not in the room 130, then the processes are the same asdepicted in FIGS. 5-8.

[0062] Depending on the alarm priority, locking out patient controls maynot be desirable. For example, if patient 100 experiences anincontinence event, the patient may desire to exit the bed to personallytend to his hygiene needs. However, locking out the bed controls canimpede patient 100 from exiting the bed. Conversely, if the patient isexperiencing a seizure, locking out the bed 90 controls andenvironmental devices 50 is desirable so to prevent a patient'sinvoluntary movement from accidentally activating a bed 90 orenvironmental devices 50.

[0063]FIG. 9 shows a flow chart 900 of another illustrative embodimentdescribing a process that locks out patient bed controls andenvironmental controls based on the alarm priority. In step 902,computer 12 receives an alarm. In step 904, the alarm priority isassessed. Step 906 determines whether a patient lock out is required. Ahigher priority alarm, such as a code blue or cardiac arrest alarm, willwarrant locking out most, if not all, controls accessible by patient 90.Conversely, a lower priority alarm, such as an incontinence event, willwarrant few, if any, control lock outs. Thus, step 908 determineswhether a full lockout or a partial lockout is required. If a fulllockout is required, step 910 selects all patient controls for lockout.Conversely, if only a partial lockout is required, step 912 selectswhich patient controls are to be locked out. The lockouts can either bepreset in the system or manually set by hospital personnel. All selectedcontrols are then locked out in step 914.

[0064] Similarly, depending on the priority of the alarm, the patient100 environment may be prepared for the arrival of the caregiver 110.For example, if patient 100 experiences a cardiac arrest while watchingtelevision/radio 120, television/radio 120 will be immediately shut off.As a cardiac arrest usually warrants a response team, shutting off thetelevision/radio 120 will ensure that this device will not distract anymember of the response team. Conversely, if a patient 100 experiencesonly a slight incontinence event while watching television, which maynot even be noticeable to the patient 100, the better therapy may be tolet the patient 100 rest and tend to the patient 100 at a later time. Assuch, the television/radio 120 will not be shut off automatically. Thus,the environmental devices 50 may not be altered, based on the eventmagnitude of an associated alarm.

[0065]FIG. 10 shows a flow chart 1000 of another illustrative embodimentdescribing that process that prepares the patient environment for thecaregiver based on the alarm priority. In step 1002, computer 12receives an alarm. In step 1004, the alarm priority is assessed. Step1006 determines whether environmental preparation is required. A higherpriority alarm, such as a code blue or cardiac arrest alarm, willwarrant environmental preparation. Conversely, a lower priority alarm,such as a slight incontinence event, will not require an environmentalpreparation. If an environmental preparation is required, theenvironment is prepared in step 1008.

[0066]FIG. 11 shows a flow chart 1100 of another illustrative embodimentdescribing a process that prepares the patient environment for thecaregiver based on the alarm priority, with each environmentalpreparation subject to an override condition. illustratively, anenvironmental preparation can be subject to an override conditiondepending on the time of day. For example, if patient 100 experiences acardiac arrest in the evening while sleeping, it is likely that room 130lighting is low or off. Given the severity of a cardiac arrest, whichwarrants a response team, an environmental preparation includes turningon the room 130 lighting. As such, overhead light 122 will immediatelyilluminate the room, as a response team will most likely arrive soonafter the alarm is generated. Conversely, if a patient 100 experiencesonly a slight incontinence event during the evening while sleeping, thebetter therapy may be to let the patient 100 rest and tend to thepatient 100 in the morning. As such, no environmental preparations isrequired and overhead light 122 remains off.

[0067] Once the environmental preparations are determined, step 1102selects the next environmental preparation from the list, beginning withthe first. In step 1104, the environmental preparation is checked for anoverride condition. Illustratively, overhead light 122, which normallywould illuminate once an incontinence event is detected, will notilluminate if the time is outside visiting hours, e.g., from 8:00PM-8:00 AM. If no override condition exists, the environment is preparedaccordingly in step 1106; if an override condition for that particularenvironmental preparation exists, then the environment is not preparedwith respect to that particular environmental preparation. If anyenvironmental preparations remain, step 1108 repeats the process for thenext environmental preparation. If no environmental preparations remain,then the process is complete.

[0068] The lockouts and overrides corresponding to an alarm can beconfigured through a common database structure. FIG. 12 depicts thedatabase association of the alarm database 400, the database containingtype 410, priority 420, lockout 430 and override 440 fields. The type410 field stores the alarm type. Type 410 field contains records 1 . . .k, priority 420 field contains records 1.1, lockout 430 field containsrecords 1 . . . m, and override 440 field contains record 1 . . . n.

[0069] Illustratively, alarm types correspond to the equipment and/orpatient 100 condition. Thus, type 410 values include “IncontinenceEvent”, “Cardiac Arrest”, “Low Blood Pressure”, “Smoke Alarm”, etc.

[0070] The priority 410 fields stores the alarm priority and correspondsthe alarm priority to the alarm type. Illustratively, a higher alarmpriority corresponds to more immediate needs of the patient 100 orpossibly a life threatening condition the patient 100 is experiencing.As shown in FIG. 12, two records from the type 410 field have beenassigned a priority 2. Thus, if an alarm corresponding to either ofthose two records is received, it is assigned priority 2.

[0071] The lockouts 430 field stores the patient lockouts, theenvironmental lockouts, and environmental preparations. Illustratively,the lockouts correspond to the alarm priority. As shown in FIG. 12, apriority 2 alarm has been assigned three lockouts. Illustratively, thelockouts correspond to bed 90 siderails, overhead light 122, andtelevision/radio 120. Thus, if a priority 2 alarm is received, thepatient will not be able to operate the bed 90 siderails, overhead light122, and television/radio 120.

[0072] The override 440 field stores overrides corresponding to thelockouts 440. As shown in FIG. 12, one lockout has two potentialoverrides. Illustratively, the lockout corresponds to the bed 90siderail, and the override conditions are “Visiting Hours” or “MinorIncontinence Event.” Thus, if a patient 90 experiences an incontinenceevent that is only a minor event, the bed 90 siderails will not belocked out. Additionally, if the incontinence event occurs duringvisiting hours, the bed 90 siderails will not be locked out.

[0073] One of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that thedatabase configuration of FIGS. 3, 4 and 12 are illustrative only, andthat other configurations or structures are readily apparent. Forexample, overrides can be correlated to priority, or priority andlockouts, etc. Furthermore, the illustrative fields are not exhaustiveand other categorization schemes exist known to those of ordinary skillin the art.

[0074] Although the invention has been described in detail withreference to certain illustrated embodiments, variations exist withinthe scope and spirit of the invention as described and as defined in thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A hospital monitoring system for monitoringhospital personnel, a plurality of patient locations for patients, andassociated devices having device states, comprising: a plurality oftransmitters carried by hospital personnel, each transmitterperiodically transmitting a transmitter signal unique to thattransmitter; a plurality of receivers, each receiver corresponding to apatient location, the receivers receiving the transmitter signals andoutputting a receiver signal; and a computer coupled to the associateddevices, the computer configured to receive the receiver signals anddetermine the presence of hospital personnel in the patient locations,the computer further configured to alter device states based on thepresence of hospital personnel.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein eachof the associated devices has an associated alarm, and wherein thecomputer is configured to silence the alarm when the hospital personnelis present in the patient location.
 3. The system of claim 1, whereineach of the associated devices has an associated alarm, and wherein thecomputer is configured to silence the alarm when the hospital personnelis present in the patient location, and further configured to requirethe hospital personnel to silence the alarm if the alarm is issued whenthe hospital personnel is present in the patient location.
 4. The systemof claim 1, wherein each of the associated devices has an associatedalarm, and wherein the computer is configured to silence the alarm whenthe hospital personnel is present in the patient location, and furtherconfigured to silence the alarm after a predetermined amount of time ifthe alarm is issued when the hospital personnel is present in thepatient location.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the computerincludes a database, the database comprising: a patient database, thepatient database associated each patient with a patient location; ahospital personnel database, the hospital personnel database associatinghospital personnel with a patient; and an alarm database, the alarmdatabase associating a plurality of alarms with the hospital personnel.6. The system of claim 5, wherein each of the devices has an associatedalarm, and wherein the computer is configured to silence the alarm whenthe hospital personnel associated with a patient is present in thepatient location associated with the patient.
 7. The system of claim 5,wherein each of the devices has an associated alarm, and wherein thecomputer is configured to silence the alarm when the hospital personnelassociated with a patient is present in the patient location associatedwith the patient and when the hospital personnel is further associatedwith the alarm.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the deviceshas an associated alarm and patient controls, and wherein the computerlocks out the patient controls upon receiving an alarm signal.
 9. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein each of the devices has an associated alarmand patient controls, and wherein computer locks out the patientcontrols when the hospital personnel is present in the patient location.10. The system of claim 5, wherein each of the devices has associatedpatient controls, and wherein computer locks out the patient controlswhen the hospital personnel associated with the patient is present inthe patient location associated with the patient.
 11. The system ofclaim 5, wherein each of the devices has associated patient controls,and wherein computer locks out the patient controls upon receiving analarm signal.
 12. The system of claim 5, wherein each of the devices hasassociated patient controls, and wherein the computer selectively locksout patient controls based on the alarm signal.
 13. The system of claim5, wherein at least one device is an environmental device, theenvironmental device having an associated patient control, and whereinthe computer locks out the patient control upon receiving an alarmsignal.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the computer is furtherconfigured to alter the environmental device based on the alarm signal.15. The system of claim 14, wherein the computer alters theenvironmental device upon receiving the alarm.
 16. The system of claim14, wherein the computer alters the environmental device when thehospital personnel enters the patient location in which theenvironmental device is located.
 17. The system of claim 14, wherein thecomputer is further configured to determine overrides associated withthe environmental device, and not alter the environmental device if anoverride exists.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the override isbased on the time of day.
 19. The system of claim 17, wherein the alarmhas an associated event magnitude, and wherein the override is based onthe event magnitude.
 20. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one ofthe devices in one of the patient locations has associated patientcontrols, and wherein the computer selectively locks out the patientcontrols if the hospital personnel is not present in the one of thepatient locations.
 21. The system of claim 20, wherein the at least onedevice is a hospital bed.
 22. The system of claim 1, wherein at leastone of the devices in one of the patient locations has associatedpatient controls to control a plurality of features, and wherein thecomputer selectively locks out activation of one of the features if thehospital personnel is not present in the one of the patient locations.23. The system of claim 22, wherein the at least one device is ahospital bed having a bed surface, and wherein the one of the featuresis changing the bed surface position.
 24. The system of claim 1, whereinat least one of the devices in one of the patient locations hasassociated patient controls, and wherein the computer selectivelyenables the patient controls if the hospital personnel is not present inthe one of the patient locations.
 25. The system of claim 1, wherein atleast one of the devices in one of the patient locations has associatedpatient controls to control a plurality of features, and wherein thecomputer selectively enables activation of the feature if the hospitalpersonnel is not present in the one of the patient locations.
 26. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein at least one of the devices in one of thepatient locations is a bed comprising: patient controls to control a bedfeature; lockouts configured to prevent actuation of the patientcontrols based on a lockout status; and wherein the computer isconfigured to prevent the changes to the lockout status when thehospital personnel is not present in the one of the patient locations.27. A method of controlling devices in a patient location, the methodcomprising the steps of: associating the patient location to a patient;associating devices to the patient location; determining the presence ofhospital personnel in the patient location; and altering the state ofthe devices based the presence of hospital personnel.
 28. The method ofclaim 27, wherein the step of altering the state of the devices based onthe presence of hospital personnel comprises the step of silencing analarm associated with one of the devices when the hospital personnel ispresent in the patient location.
 29. The method of claim 28, wherein thestep silencing an alarm associated with one of the devices when thehospital personnel is present in the patient location includes the stepsof: determining whether the hospital personnel is present in the patientlocation when the alarm is received; and silencing the alarm after apredetermined amount of time if the hospital personnel is present in thepatient location when the alarm is received.
 30. The method of claim 27,further comprising the steps of: associating hospital personnel with thepatient; and associating hospital personnel with an alarm associatedwith one of the devices.
 31. The method of claim 30, wherein the step ofaltering the state of the devices based on the presence of hospitalpersonnel comprises the step of silencing the alarm when the hospitalpersonnel associated with the patient and associated with the alarm ispresent in the patient location.
 32. The method of claim 27, wherein thestep of altering the state of the devices based the presence of hospitalpersonnel includes the step of preventing patient control of the deviceswhen an alarm is received.
 33. The method of claim 27, wherein the stepof altering the state of the devices based the presence of hospitalpersonnel includes the step of preventing patient control of the deviceswhen the hospital personnel is present in the patient location.
 34. Themethod of claim 27, wherein the step of altering the state of thedevices based the presence of hospital personnel includes the step ofenabling patient control of the devices when the hospital personnel ispresent in the patient location.
 35. A method of controlling devices ina patient location, the method comprising the steps of: associating thepatient location to a patient; associating devices to the patientlocation; associating alarms to the devices; and altering the state ofthe devices based the presence of an alarm.
 36. The method of claim 35,wherein the step of altering the state of the devices based on thepresence of an alarm includes the step of preventing patient control ofthe devices in the presence of an alarm.
 37. The method of claim 35,wherein the step of altering the state of the devices based on thepresence of an alarm includes the steps of: associating an alarmpriority with the alarm; and preventing patient control of selectivedevices based on the alarm priority.
 38. The method of claim 35, whereinthe step of altering the state of the devices based on the presence ofan alarm includes the steps of: associating a priority with the alarm;and altering the state of the devices based on the alarm priority. 39.The method of claim 38, wherein the step of altering the state of thedevices based on the presence of an alarm further includes the steps of:associating an override condition to the device; and not altering thestate of the devices in the presence of an alarm if the overridecondition exists.
 40. A hospital monitoring system for monitoringhospital personnel, a plurality of patient locations for patients, andassociated devices having device states, comprising: a locating andtracking system configured to locate and track hospital personnellocated in the plurality of patient locations; a computer coupled to theassociated devices and the locating and tracking system, the computerconfigured to determine the presence of hospital personnel in thepatient locations from the locating and tracking system, the computerfurther configured to alter device states based on the presence ofhospital personnel, the computer including a database, the databasecomprising: a patient database, the patient database associated eachpatient with a patient location; a hospital personnel database, thehospital personnel database associating each hospital personnel with acaregiver or non-caregiver class, the hospital personnel databasefurther associating hospital personnel with a patient; and an alarmdatabase, the alarm database associating a plurality of alarms with thehospital personnel.
 41. The system of claim 40, wherein each of theassociated devices has an associated alarm, and wherein the computer isconfigured to silence the alarm when the hospital personnel associatedwith a caregiver class is present in the patient location in which theassociated device with the activated alarm is located.
 42. The system ofclaim 40, wherein each of the associated devices has an associatedalarm, and wherein the computer is configured to silence the alarm whenthe hospital personnel associated with the alarm is present in thepatient location in which the associated device with the activated alarmis located.